I watched a drone swarm on TV and was fascinated about how they worked. Could you just buy them off the shelf and program them yourself?
Turned out that the answer was no.
Drone swarms work like a hive mind using complex code. Each drone has a copy of the code along with its own set of instructions. They can be lighter and smaller than other drones as they don’t need all the recording and camera gear. Instead they use GPS and sensors to move and position themselves. Then depending on their function they move and activate LED lights or smoke canisters.
There is no master drone as the whole swarm could fail if something happens to the master. Instead they act independently. They are aware of each other via communications and sensors and should a drone fail another can take its place.
Custom software such as DroneShow is used to program and test the swarm. GPS coordinates are used to define a safety boundary outside which the drones cannot go, known as a geo-fence. This prevents the drones from harming the audience or drifting over private land causing security and safety issues.
A fall-back system may also be available whereby the swarm could be controlled from a base station should there be a problem such as a loss of GPS signal or to land the drones due to a failure.
Category: hardware
Devices constantly waiting
Smart meters can show you how much energy your devices are actually using, even when on standby. Tools like nmap and Wireshark can help you map-out your home network and monitor how chatty your devices are, even when you think they are turned off.
Nothing is truly turned off unless it is unplugged. I have an integrated microwave that looks asleep but it is constantly waiting for you to touch its fascia so that it can wake up or open its door for you. My set-top boxes have powered down their storage media but they are still polling servers on the internet for updates and waiting for an IR signal from the remote. The smart TVs are also waiting for IR signals or your voice. Some even record your voice and analyse it in a buffer just on the off-chance that you are talking to it. Always listening.
Your home might be full of devices just waiting for you to address them, with a button press or voice command. Constantly waiting and consuming power. All in the name of efficiency.
Thoughts on CCTV hacking
CCTV stands for Closed-Circuit TeleVision. Or at least stood for, as today it’s rarely a closed circuit nor TV. It’s usually online and over IP and available to access via an app on your phone, making it all the more hackable.
So how easy is it to hack modern CCTV?
I did some research and the answer is it depends. It depends on the manufacturer, the availability of software and firmware updates, and how it is configured.
Let me explain by switching sides to that of a potential attacker. First you have to find the target CCTV system. This can be achieved using a database like Shodan and tools like Angry IP Scanner. With an IP address and a port scanner such as nmap or the aforementioned Angry IP you can locate the login page. Then it’s just a matter of trying the manufacturer’s default passwords, employing a brute force attack, or making use of an exploit where available.
So how do you secure your online CCTV system? First, make sure it’s a closed system unless you really need to be able to access it remotely; in which case secure the connection by changing any default passwords, make sure all software and firmware is up to date, employ a firewall and VPN (or whitelist IPs for access) and monitor access logs for anything suspicious.
Simple?
Vehicle tracking
I grew up in an area where car crime was rife. I even had my own car stolen once. Friends with nice cars would purchase GPS trackers so that if their car was stolen they would hopefully be able to find it. Assuming the thief hadn’t removed the tracker that is.
I wasn’t sure how today’s car trackers worked. The technology has probably moved on a bit so I started doing some light reading.
Essentially they make use of GPS to track their current location, utilising storage to record their location against time. Some devices can store additional information such as engine start and stop times, speed, electronics operation such as lights, windows, radio, etc. This data can then be accessed when a car returns to base or by being transmitted via a communication method such as via a wireless network when near a specific base station or other cellular communications. The devices may be self-powered via a battery or hook into the vehicle’s electrics in order to receive power from the car battery. Some may use their own battery when the car is turned off and charge from the car battery when the car is operational.
The vehicle owner can access the data from the tracker in near real time via a web site or app. Depending on the device and features offered it can report nothing more than current location to location, speed, and car telematics.
Vehicle tracking is popular among vehicle rental companies, fleet management, and security vehicle companies such as those offering to transport money, valuables or people.
Trackers that feature GPS and recording only are referred to as passive devices. They need to be accessed physically in order to access the recorded data. Active devices can transmit data using cellular or satellite communications and do not require physical access.
Commercial trackers come in various shapes and sizes and range from cheap passive models that connect to the car battery, to those that try to disguise themselves as part of the car and utilise active technology to broadcast their position and other data in near real time or whenever they have a strong enough signal. They tend to be waterproof and dust proof, may be made of a heat-proof material, especially if residing in the engine compartment, and may have no discernable markings to identify themselves as a tracking device.
Other types of tracker may also be used such as an asset tracker. These can be in the form of adhesive stickers that can be stuck to a car’s windshield, or tiles that can be left in the glove box or other storage area of the vehicle. These are relatively cheap and are harder for a potential thief to locate.
Pet chipping
I decided to look into pet microchipping after reading an article about a modern detective who tracked down a married couple who committed fraud then left their home country to avoid the authorities. The detective succeeded where others failed in tracking them down after learning that their expensive dog was chipped. The dog had a unique medical condition requiring specific drugs. He tracked the pet initially via its medical requirements to a veterinary clinic in another county and then upon learning of the pets next visit – with a carer not the owners – they then accessed the animals microchip and were able to ascertain the owners new address leading to arrest.
How does the technology work?
Essentially a microchip the size of a grain of rice coated in a protective layer is injected under the skin of the animal at the back of the neck. Utilising passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology that conforms to international standards, the chip can be read by a hand-held scanner generating the power required by the chip to send back a unique 15-digit number. This number can then be fed into various pet databases to access the owner’s details. The start of the number usually indicates the country of origin followed by the microchip manufacturer.
Since the 6th of April 2016, all dogs in the UK must be microchipped, and from the 10th of June 2024 all cats in the UK must also be microchipped. Dogs and cats in the UK found without a chip can lead to a fine for the registered owner.
Those with access to the databases such as vets are not permitted to divulge information about the owner to anyone but the registered owner.
Scanners can be purchased freely as the microchips only store the unique ID number. The real data is stored in the pet databases and generally consist of the pet’s name, the owner’s name, address, and contact details.
Products such as automated dog and cat flaps can contain scanners that can read the microchips as the pet approaches so that only authorised pets may enter or leave the property.
Ways drones could be used and abused
I’ve been thinking about drones recently. I have a friend that races them, a neighbour that has one to map out the local area, and I own a tiny in-door one myself. Drones seem to be growing in popularity and so I started looking into the security implications of drones and noted all the ways that drones could be hacked, used and abused.
Here’s my list:
– Crashed on purpose or flown into obstacles, vehicles, or people.
– Used for remote surveillance, monitoring, eavesdropping, shoulder-surfing of keypad entry use, invasion of personal privacy.
– To steal other drones using techniques such as jamming and spoofing. See Samy Kamkar’s Skyjack experiment as an example.
– To steal on-board data from other drones. Drones have digital storage for video, image, and audio recorded data. This could be stolen. Also the interception of the data streams that a drone sends back to its base station could be intercepted.
– To steal wireless data. Drones can be used to intercept Wifi, Bluetooth, RFID, ZigBee, and any other wireless data by carrying the appropriate hacking tools and communications equipment. The drone can be flown within range of the target communications signals and then spoof and hack its way in. It could even be flown onto an office building roof in order to become a WiFi pineapple device then return to base with no human required to access the target location.
– To deliver contraband across borders, fences, and other restricted areas.
– To hack vehicles by flying above the vehicle and employing vehicle hacking technology.
– To create a communications network. Instead of using the cell towers of a communications company a network of drones with specialist on-board software and equipment could act as a mobile cell network to provide communications for an organisation preventing eavesdropping from the authorities.
– To map out locations and buildings in greater detail than Google streetview and Google Earth can offer.
– To disable security cameras in an area by locating the cameras and using various techniques such as IR to disable the cameras for a period of time before criminals access the location.
– To assist with heists from vehicle hijacks to museum robberies.
Can you think of any others?
Windows 10 End-of-Life
It’s Microsoft Windows 10’s End-of-Life (EoL) this October (2025). A lot of people with older machines will be impacted by this as their machines will not be able to run Windows 11, even with hardware upgrades.
Over the years I’ve managed to keep my older machines running for as long as possible with various upgrades and modifications. The best upgrade for your money and the return on investment is moving from a disk-based hard drive (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD). I have laptops that are 15 years old that are running Windows 10 just fine but fail the Windows 11 compatibility check.
So what are the options for those of us that can’t afford a new computer?
First, backup your computer. I mean, you are already doing this anyway right? This will ensure that you have access to your data should anything happen to your PC going forwards. Backup both the data and take an image of the drive and store two copies in separate safe locations.
Once your data is backed-up, replace the OS with Linux. There are many flavours available. Go peruse distrowatch to see which one best suits you. If you are still unsure then Ubuntu is popular among those new to Linux.
Once you are up and running you can port your data across. There are Linux applications that are alternatives to Windows applications that can still read your files. Instead of Office you can run LibreOffice for example. There are many open source applications that should be able to help.
If you really need to run Windows and your laptop is powerful enough you can run something like Virtualbox and run your Windows 10 in a virtual machine. Or you can containerise your applications and run them in something like Docker. Or look at WINE, the linux Windows emulator.
Just because Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 10 does not mean that you have to pay for a new machine to use Windows 11. You have options.
Got any other suggestions? Let me know.
Disposable culture
It’s mad that we have countries that can’t agree on how to tackle climate change and that we live in such a disposable culture. For example I have a device that I can’t charge because the charging cable is broken. I can’t fix it because the manufacturer has designed it as a disposable product in that it is completely sealed and tamper proof. I’ve searched on-line for a replacement charger and the cheapest I can find is 19.99 not including delivery. However, for 16.99 I can buy the device again with a charger.
Why would you pay more for less? I just want one part, not a whole new set! Yet somehow it is cheaper to buy a whole new set than the part you need to make what you have work again. It’s both frustrating and very sad.
Throw away culture
I was watching a documentary where people in countries like India and Egypt had lots of these one-person businesses specialising in one thing such as motorbike exhausts, metal cooking pans, mobile phone repair, etc. Where everything was recycled or up-cycled. Nothing was thrown away or wasted. Another person’s trash was something they could re-use to turn into a product or part of a product.
It was fascinating. We have such a throw-away culture here in the UK. It’s far cheaper to buy a new device than attempt to repair the old one, partly due to the cost of spare parts and labour costs plus taxes, and partly because many manufacturers don’t support their products for long and access to spare parts can be limited, if they are available at all.
Yet in this documentary these individuals made their own parts or harvested them from other devices. There was less going into landfills.
This inspired me. I have this all-in-one printer that is sitting at the end of my desk no longer working properly. I had started to research new printers to see what I would buy next. But I really liked the one I had. I could get ink cheaply for it. It had a paper feeder hidden underneath rather than those top-loading ones where the paper can flop awkwardly forwards and needs constant reloading. The scanner worked smoothly and it was a great photocopier. Plus I didn’t want to toss another device in a landfill.
Inspired by the documentary I decided to see if I could repair it myself. I did some online googling and watched a few YouTube videos and then bought some stuff online.
Once it all arrived it took an hour or so but I’m happy to say that my printer now works like new. Everything I bought is either part of the working printer or can be used to repair it in future. I did not consign another electronic device to the local dump.
Upgrading your car
I’ve been thinking about upgrading my car. I don’t mean the mechanics or body. I mean the in-car electronic systems.
Let me explain. The year my car was released the manufacturer saw fit to install an SD card reader with an upper storage limit that was only a few MB above the current version of the TomTom navigation and head unit software. So the original owner was unable to upgrade the software without replacing the SD card reader. So the in-dash navigation unit keeps referring to turns and roundabouts that are no longer there.
Looking into the upgrade options, I could replace the SD card reader at considerable cost, then pay for the latest TomTom software for my head unit, which is now considered old tech. Or I could replace the entire head unit with a third-party Android unit avoiding the need to pay TomTom anything.
In addition to the head unit, the security system is also considered out-dated and even hackable. Like a Samsung mobile the manufacturer of my car abandoned support after several years and after realising there was a serious security flaw that could not be fixed cheaply. So they just fixed it in the next model.
And don’t get me started on the sound system, AC, and in-car illumination.
Upgrading modern cars feels more like upgrading your PC, only way more expensive and complex. And I’m not even talking about electric cars!